Buffet Lunch is $18 for members and $20 for visiting Rotarians and guests. (Lunch increase is inevitable. $18 for members and $20 for guests effective August 7, 2024)
David G. Brown is the retired president and CEO of the Greater Omaha Chamber, one of the nation's largest and most highly accredited chambers.
Backed by 40 years of experience in economic development and chamber administration, David led the Chamber with bold vision and contagious enthusiasm. The organization advocated for a strong business climate and community building, created opportunities for member visibility and business connections, pursued investment and jobs for the region, strengthened leaders and the community, and enhanced the region’s brand and image.
Under his leadership, the Chamber partnered with the United Way of the Midlands and the Urban League of Nebraska to develop Omaha 2040, a 20-year vision for the region. Initiatives focused on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Regional Mass Transit, redevelopment of the Urban Core, Economic Development, and Talent retention and attraction. The Chamber also led public policy initiatives, resulting in the passage of dozens of bills that increased Nebraska's competitiveness for new businesses and residents.
During his tenure in Omaha, the Greater Omaha Economic Development Partnership, Omaha’s regional economic development effort led by the Chamber, successfully landed 972 projects, representing 56,433 jobs and nearly $15 billion in capital investment since 2004.
David began his career in organizational leadership in Michigan in 1983 as president of the Monroe County Industrial Development Corporation and director of the Port of Monroe. In 1995, he began a ten-year tenure at the Greater Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce, first as vice president of economic development and then as president. His next assignment took him to South Carolina, where he was president and CEO of the Greater Greenville Chamber of Commerce until the summer of 2003. David assumed his role as president and CEO of the Greater Omaha Chamber in October 2003 and retired from the Chamber profession in May 2022. Since then, David has been working with world top 50 futurist/economist Rebecca Ryan, consulting with communities across the country helping them plan for the future.
David is a graduate of Dartmouth College with academic specialties in industrial location and environmental studies.
Hello Rotarians and friends of the Rotary Club of Omaha! It’s another great week to be a Rotarian, and we have some things to celebrate!
Thank you to Michelle Trawick, Dean of the College of Business Administration, UNO and Sue Kutschkau, Executive Director with the University of Nebraska Foundation, for inviting their colleague Brent Clark to be our featured speaker on the hot topic of Artificial Intelligence! There were lots of takeaways and lots of questions... A couple things that stood out to me are that AI is not new; it’s essentially the algorithms that have been part of our lives for many years, and the old adage Garbage In = Garbage Out means that AI is only as accurate as the data input.
Several members had exciting, good news to share including Amie Konwinski, Christopher Nwafor, John Mock, and Vanessa Clark – who rallied us to make a donation to Polio Plus in recognition of the polio immunizations happening in Gaza. Our club responded with over $220 in cash donations. Very cool! Let’s meet Vanessa’s challenge to get to $500 via https://my.rotary.org/en/donate. Do SIGN IN in for your Paul Harris points, choose Polio Plus, and let me, Yolanda, or Vanessa know that you donated.
We sang Happy Birthday to all our members with September birthdays, but mostly to Camille Metoyer Moten since it was HER day!
As you’ve noticed, we are continuing to hone a few things in our partnership with the Field Club of Omaha:
Thank you EVERYONE for your patience while the Field Club is updating their audio-visual equipment. As Secretary James recently said “we are this close” to solving our tech frustrations. Stick with us; we will get through it!
For those eating lunch with us, we have reintroduced lunch tickets to ensure an accurate meal count. As a reminder, we pay per plate. So if you’re going back for cookies don’t grab another plate. The new process is pretty slick: after making your lunch payment, please be sure to collect your ticket and present it to the Field Club staff at the start of the buffet. Your cooperation in helping us assist the Field Club staff is greatly appreciated!
Our Business Sponsor of the month is Zac Triemert with Brickway Brewery and Distillery. Thanks for the samples Zac!
Lisa Tonjes Moritz of HOPE Organizing is doing a fabulous job as our Public Image Chair! This week she unveiled a convenient option for those of us who like to take photos at Rotary events to upload them all to the same place, easy breezy! On our club’s home page (http://omaharotary.org/) scroll down and click on the large blue square to upload your Rotary photos and videos. Thank you Lisa for keeping us engaged on our various social media pages with highlight reels of our meetings, service projects, featured speakers, and many other goings on with our club and our members! Please like and comment!
I’ll see you at the Field Club this Wednesday for lunch. Bring a guest!
President Heather Legge The Rotary Club of Omaha
President Heather's weekly video message, watch it in YouTube or copy/paste this link to your browser: https://youtu.be/vOdF8NELnMU
Thanks to the efforts of Rotarians and dedicated volunteers, nearly 3,000 flags now stand at Memorial Park as part of our 9/11 Tribute. Each flag honors one of the 2,977 lives lost on September 11, 2001, displaying the name, age, location, and personal details of a victim. A special section is reserved for flags representing those with a Nebraska connection. We extend our deepest gratitude to Dan Esch for coordinating this meaningful project, and a heartfelt thanks to all the Rotarians, Boy Scouts, family members, and friends who generously volunteered their time.
August 29, 2024, Omaha NE. Recently, we welcomed transferring Rotarian Liesel Kittlitz from Rotary Club of Spokane Rotary 21.
Liesel joined Global Financial Markets Institute (GFMI), a boutique capital markets training firm, in November 2013 to spearhead the company’s marketing efforts, grow the client base, broaden the instructor talent pool, implement new technology, and support the company’s expansion. Prior to joining GFMI, Liesel served as Senior Vice President of Global Marketing and Operations with Omega Performance, an international performance improvement company providing credit and sales skills training for the financial services industry. During nearly two decades at Omega, Liesel also held leadership positions in learning technology, design and development, facilitator management, consulting services, and client implementations.
A veteran of the education, training, and performance improvement industry for over 25 years, Liesel’s experience also includes contracts and grants management with municipal government and public school systems. She delights in uncovering opportunities for improvement and helping clients meet and exceed their learning objectives.
Liesel graduated cum laude from James Madison University with a B.S. in Communication. She continued her education with post-baccalaureate studies in Psychology (particularly social, learning, and organizational psychology) and graduate work in Business and Finance from the McColl School of Business at Queens University of Charlotte. She earned her MBA from the Graduate School of Business at Gonzaga University, where she also taught as an adjunct instructor.
Outside of the office, Liesel volunteers with numerous church and community organizations. She enjoys golf, wine, and traveling.
August 29, 2024, Omaha NE. Recently, we welcomed back Rotarian Amie Konwinski. Amie is the founder and CEO of Smart Gen Society, an Omaha-based, national reaching nonprofit, inspiring students and families to think critically about their digital usage, while maintaining their privacy and safety, and protecting their social, emotional, and mental well-being.
Prior to founding Smart Gen, Amie served 14 years in the U.S. Navy, serving as Information System’s Technician Chief Petty Officer and a civilian government contractor. Stationed in both the Pacific and Atlantic arenas, Amie designed and installed hardware and software systems on three continents and in multiple Top-Secret U.S. and allied government facilities.
An Omaha Native, Amie graduated from the University of Nebraska at Omaha with a Bachelor of Art in Communications, a minor in Information Systems Technology. She holds multiple certificates in organizational and military leadership, network hardware, software, security, and communications.
Amie lives in Omaha, Nebraska with her husband Roger, their daughters and fur babies. In her free time, Amie enjoys reading, live music, and adventurous traveling.
September is Basic Education and Literacy Month for Rotary. As I am visiting clubs in our district, it is fantastic to see the number of clubs that are recognizing students for academic achievement, giving out dictionaries to grade schoolers and awarding scholarships to high school seniors to help support our next generation of leaders.
In addition, I would like to thank PDG Kathryn Schubert and her committee for all of the work that they have put in to bring the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) back on October 11-13 at Camp Sonshine in Roca, Nebraska. We truly are "People of Action".
I would also like to thank our District Conference Committee, led by James Mackiewicz for all of the work that they are doing to plan a terrific "Fusion 5650 District Conference".
We will be hosting the conference on October 18th and 19th at the Downtown Omaha Marriott. Please make plans to attend. The discounted conference rate and the room rate will end on September 20th.
We are working on a great agenda that will include Don Eckles, Co-founder of Scooters as our keynote speaker at the District Luncheon on Friday. PDG Barbara Bartles will present on her group's NID trip to India on Saturday. We will have some interactive roundtable discussions on Membership Recruitment and Public Image best practices and more. We will post the entire agenda soon. I hope to see you all there.
Where three or more Rotarians gather, it's called a Rotary Social, and you earn attendance credits. Rotarians may come from different clubs. Connect with Rotarians and enjoy the power of Rotary fellowship. Below are our recent Rotary Social.
Rotarians Viv Ewing, John Ewing, and Michelle Trawick meet up
Michelle Trawick with Hal Daub. Michelle and Hall will tell us at the meeting the missing third Rotarian
Rotarians in action at the recent Commercial Real Estate Summit. L to R: John Sullivan, Kevin Baitey, Adam Hoebelheinrich, and Larry Sullivan
The Rotaract Club of Belize City is renovating a rural school and a Rotary club-sponsored park as part of its youth-focused agenda. In April, club members met at the Hattieville Government Preschool to paint restrooms and complete other beautification work. A later phase will include new toilets. “We’ve been able to replace chalkboards in 10 classrooms with whiteboards and to donate a printer and other school and hygiene materials,” says Kristoff Nicholson, immediate past president. The club partnered with a telecom provider and raffled off smartphones to help pay for the project. It also received a District 4250 grant of $1,000. In March, club members replaced basketball and goal nets and painted benches and a playset at Love Park in Balama, another element of the project, Nicholson says.
Colombia
In January, the Rotary Club of Cúcuta-Ciudad de Arboles purchased about $600 of school supplies and delivered 100 sets of notebooks, pencils, pens, erasers, sharpeners, and more to students in the city. It’s about 350 miles northeast of Bogotá. Club members also visited with students in the neighborhood of Las Delicias, says Dora Patricia Lobo, a past president of the club. “The hustle and bustle and joy of these students when they receive their school package warms our souls and encourages us to continue,” Lobo says. More than 1,400 students have benefited since the project began.
June 26, 2024. Outgoing President Larry Guenther recognized our members who achieved perfect attendance. Perfect Rotary attendance(aka Perfect Rotarians) is attained through consistent participation in weekly meetings, service projects, committee work, weekly club service, Rotary socials, visiting other clubs, Rotary online makeups, Zoom attendance, attendance at club board meetings, and attendance at club foundation board meetings. Below is the list of our perfect attendance Rotarians.
July is the perfect time to start your journey towards becoming a Perfect Rotarian!
Rotarians are making a difference at Stephen Center. CLICK HERE to sign up.
Stephen Center partners with the community, families, and individuals to overcome homelessness, addiction, and poverty. Stephen Center has served the homeless and low-income in Omaha since 1984 through its three programs: Emergency Shelter, HERO Program, and Transitional Living Program. The Omaha Downtown Rotary partners with Stephens Center in serving hot meals to its residents.
Pictured here are the July 2024 volunteers L to R:Steve McCollister, Colleen Brennan, Christopher Nwafor, Fletcher Reel, and Julie Sanford
The Rotary Club of Omaha is now recruiting more members! It's your opportunity to join the Rotary Club of Omaha, click here to complete the membership application form. For questions, please contact Membership Chair Franco Gentile at FGentile@sbgtv.com.
Chase Bank
UNO College of Business
Centris
Ollie The Trolley
Carlson West Povondra Architects
DA Davidson
Elkhorn Athletics Association
Omaha Massage Therapy
Catholic Archdiocese of Omaha
Kevin Baitey
Brad Burklund
Paul Cohen Hal Daub
Gene DeBoer Dianne Desler
John Ewing
Viv Ewing
Brett Frevert
Dawn Gonzales
Okley Gibbs
Fr. Lloyd Gnirk
Tom Gouttierre
Larry Guenther Bill Harvey
Gretchen Harvey
Barbara Hayman
Yolanda Hoffman
Larry Johansen
Bob Keefer
Susan Koesters
Heather Legge
Sandy Lemke
Adam Leong
John Marburger
Steve McCollister
Heidi McGinness
Camille Metoyer-Moten
Lloyd Meyer
John Mock
Jim Murphy
Roxy Orr
Fletcher Reel
Jim Scott-Miller
Deb Skinner
Jim Stewart
Jim Suttle
LeRoy Swedlund
Lisa Tonjes Moritz
Michelle Trawick
Jennifer Trebill
Kathryn Weitz
DAVID BROWN
President's Pen
August 29, 2024, Omaha NE. Recently, we welcomed transferring Rotarian Liesel Kittlitz from Rotary Club of Spokane Rotary 21. 
August 29, 2024, Omaha NE. Recently, we welcomed back Rotarian Amie Konwinski. Amie is the founder and CEO of Smart Gen Society, an Omaha-based, national reaching nonprofit, inspiring students and families to think critically about their digital usage, while maintaining their privacy and safety, and protecting their social, emotional, and mental well-being.
Belize
Colombia
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